New garden towns unveiled

The government has revealed the location for 14 new garden villages and three garden towns around England. The village sites range from 1,500 to 10,000 homes in size, with a total capacity for 48,000 homes. The three new towns could add a further 150,000 homes. The villages will have access to a £6m fund over the next two years, while £1.4m will be made available for the towns. The Department for Communities and Local Government said the money would be used to unlock the full capacity of sites, providing funding for additional resources and expertise to accelerate development and avoid delays. It also said it would provide support in terms of expertise, brokerage and new planning freedoms, but it has not yet said what these are. The new projects will have access to the billions of pounds in funding announced by the government to accelerate housing construction. The 14 garden villages are: Long Marston in Stratford-on-Avon Oxfordshire Cotswold in West Oxfordshire Deenethorpe in East Northants Culm in Mid Devon Welborne near Fareham in Hampshire West Carclaze in Cornwall Dunton Hills near Brentwood, Essex Spitalgate Heath in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire Halsnead in Knowsley, Merseyside Longcross in Runnymede and Surrey Heath Bailrigg in Lancaster Infinity Garden Village in South Derbyshire and Derby City area St Cuthberts near Carlisle City, Cumbria North Cheshire in Cheshire East The three new garden towns are: Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire Taunton, Somerset Harlow & Gilston, Essex and Hertfordshire The 17 new settlements will be added to the seven garden towns already being planned. • To send feedback, e-mail alex.peace@estatesgazette.com or tweet @EGAlexPeace or @estatesgazette